Well-educated workforce

Excellent higher education and outstanding research and development centres make Belgium a place for innovation. For the second time in a row, the University of Leuven (30 km from Brussels city centre) has been named the most innovative university in Europe in 2017. The ranking, carried out by the press agency Thomson Reuters, presents the 100 most innovative European universities.

Belgium has a long-standing track-record of academic excellence. Brussels is home to 118,000 students across more than 30 universities and higher education institutions, which attract students from across Europe.

The diversity of teaching is reflected by the presence of a wide variety of schools: public schools, private schools, International Schools, European Schools, Lycée Français, British School of Brussels, Brussels American School, Deutsche Schule Brüssel, Japanese School of Brussels, Scandinavian School, …

Europe’s Most Innovative Universities:

1. KU Leuven (Belgium)

2. Imperial College London (United Kingdom)

3. University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)

4. Technical University of Munich (Germany)

5. Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland)

Source: Thomson Reuters, 2017

The Brussels region is home to 180 nationalities,
with 108 different languages spoken.

Belgium is a multicultural and multilingual country. In addition to the three national languages – French, Dutch and German – English is widely spoken, approximately 30% of the population speaks the language. A third of Brussels’ 1.2 million residents has foreign nationality.

The productivity of Belgian workers, measured as GDP per person employed, is among the highest in Europe, 30% above EU-average. Already an important centre for research in biotechnology and nanoelectronics, Belgium has major ambitions in the digital sector. By 2020, it aims to feature in the top 3 of the European Digital Economy and Society Index, and has plans for 1,000 new start-ups.